Chair desk



Oct. 19, 1965 w, E. NoRDMARK 3,212,816

CHAIR DESK Filed May 8, 1964 s sheets-sheet 1 mvENToR.-

WALTER E. NORDMARK WITNESS Ala/wf S @ww QM@ j@ TTQRNEYS Oct. 19, 1965 w. E. NORDMARK 3,212,816

CHAIR DESK Filed May 8, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 .l lllllll u INVENTOR WALTER E. NORDMARK Oct. 19, 1965 w. E. NORDMARK 3,212,816

CHAIR DESK Filed May 8, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 4| INVENTOR: WALTER E. NORDMARK WITNESS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,212,816 CHAIR DESK Walter E. Nordmark, Grand Rapids, Mich., assigner to American Seating Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., a corporation of New Jersey Filed May 8, 1964, Ser. No. 366,082 4 Claims. (Cl. 297-170) This .invention relates to a chair desk and more particularly Ito a .chair structure in which the chair or se-at [portion is swivelly mounted upon a base and is normally urged outwardly land laterally but which is readily moved to a straight or aligned position when the seat is occupied.

An object of ,the invention is to provide a seat base in alignment with .a lixed member such as a desk, etc., and a seat or chair pivotallly mounted upon the -base tor movement such as to bring the front of .the seat Itowards said member or laterally on it, together with yieldable means (for biasing .the seat normally in .an outwardly inclined position with respect to the member. Another object is to provide in combinati-on with a desk a seat swivelly mounted on a base together Iwith means for urging the ffront of the seat in an outward and lateral direction for ready accessibility; said seat, however, when occupied moving ino .a position aligned with the desk. Yet another object is to provide novel seat and base structure in combination with means tor yieldably biasing the seat in a direction outwardly of its normal position when occupied. Other specific objects and advantages will appear as the specilica-tion proceeds.

'Ilhe invention is shown, in an illustrated embodiment, -by the accompanying drawings, in Iwil-lich- `FIGURE l is a perspective view of a chair desk embodying my invention; `FIGURE 2, atop plan view of the structure sbown in FIGURE l, the chair :bein-g shown in solid lines in its outwardly turned position and in dotted lines tor the occupied position; FIGURE 3, a vertical sectional detail view of the seat base structure, the section being t-aken as indicated at line 3-3 of FIGUR\E 4 and the seat being shown in phantom lines in the occupied position; FIGURE 4, a broken topi plan View, the view being taken las indicated at line 4-'4 of FIGURE 3; FIGURE 5, a broken top plan View taken as indicated at line 5-5 of FIGUR'E 3 and with a portion of the structure broken away; .and FIGURE 6, a broken part sectional View in perspective showing lthe swivel mechanism in separated relation and in the unoccupied position of the structure.

In the illustration given particularly in FIGURES 1 and 2, .10 designates a desk or table provided with legs '11 .and with a chair support member 12 extending downwardly and forwardly of .a seat base .13. Tubular members 14 are welded to the member -12 as shown in FIG- URE 2 and the member-s 1=3 terminate in downwardly extending llegs. In this structure, the -orward legs 11 land the downwardly turned rear legs 14 provide a support tor the combined desk and chair.

A sea-t or chair trame 15 is swivelly .supported upon the base fram-e 13 .and the fra-me carries ya seat member 16 lhaving .a .front portion 17, and the vertically extending portion of the frame 15 supports a seat back I18.

In my chair desk structure, I provide a swivel support for the chair frame 15 which normally turns the front portion 17 :of the seat -1'6 in Ian outwardly turned position as illustrated best in FIGURES l and 2, and in this position .the chair is .readily accessible. At the same time, the support mechanism yields readily to allow the cbair to be moved to the occupied position illustrated in dotted lines in FIGURE 2. The swivel support mechanism and Ithe biasing means will now be described.

In the illustration given in FIGURES 3 to 6 inclusive, the seat base 13 extends between the tubular members 14 and is welded thereto. A raised central portion 19 provides the abutment members 20 and provides also the centrally depending collar 21. 'Ilhe raised portion is also provided with lan arcuate slot 22. Mounted upon the raised portion 19 is a top bearing 23 which may be formed of nylon or other suitable material .and the bearin-g is a'lso provided lwith a slot 24 and a depending sleeve 24-a, as shown best in FIGURE 6. Above 4t-he top bearing 23 is Ka seat support member 25 provided with support legs 26 `and a depending swivel stop 27. Welded to the member 25 is a center pin .28 lhaving a threaded and flattened lower end portion 29.

IIn Ithe .assembled position shown best in FIGURE 3, the center pin 28 is provided with a .supporting collar 30 below plate 25 and a spring stabilizer 31 encloses the center pin l28 below collar 30. A torsion spring 32 extends about member 31 and has its lower end portion extending through Ian opening 33 in the swivel cup 34. 'Th-e upper portion of the spring 32 extends through the slot `22 of the base 1-3, slot 24 of the bearing 23, and slot 25-a of tbe plate 25.

The swivel oup 34, as shown best in FIGURE 6, is iprovided with spaced openings 35 to permit adjustment of the spring so `as to :bring the se-at to any desired outwardly turned angle. Als-o, the swivel cup is provided with a raised peripheral flange 36 provided with spaced notches 37 adapted to receive the downwardly turned walls I13-a of the seat base 13. 'Ilhis permits the swivel cup to be 'adjusted by turning it 90 at a time.

"Dhe swivel cup is .also provided with an upwardly turned collar 38 receiving the neck portion of the bearing *39, 'which may also lbe formed of nylon or .other suitable material. Below the member 39 is a swivel washer 40, and a swivel nut 41 engages the lower threaded end p0rtion 29 `of center pin 28.

Operation In the operati-on of the structure, the seat base 13 is tixed, being supported by the legs 14 and through the tubular member 12 by the desk 10 and yits legs -11. The seat or chair trarne 15 is carried by the rotatable plate 25 mounted on center pin 28. 'Ilhe Atorsion spring 32 is adjusted so as to swing t-he plate 25 and thereby seat 16 normally to tlie outwardly turned position shown best in FIGURES 1 and 2. Such an outwardly turned position provides a substantial clearance between the seat 16 and .the table 10 .and thus allows the user to move comfortably into the seat without striking the .table and .the seat Iis then swung without efort to the position aligned with the table, as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 2. While the swivel mechanism may be :arranged to give yany desired degree of movement, I prefer to have the seat swivel about namely about 75 to the right and about 15 .to the left of center `from .the aligned position shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 2. The swivel stop 27 which engages the raised abutment portions 20 of base 13 may be formed in any desired length to vary the degree of rotational movement. Further, as .above described, the outwardly turned position of the seat may be controlled by rotating the lower end of the spring in one or the other of the openings 35.

In the use of the chair desk, as for example by a student in school, it is desired to have the seat close to lthe desk so that the student will sit in an upright position close to the desk for effective Iwriting .and reading, etc. However, in Ithe usuall seat arrangement for accomplishing this purpose, it is found that the space between the seat and the desk is close and there is a problem both in getting seated .and in getting out of the seat. With the new structure in which the seat normally is turned outwardly, as

3 illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2, th'e seat and seat back are opened so that the student can comfortably be seated before swinging the chair into the lolose position beside the desk. Similarly, the student can swing the seat read- -iily to the right so as to open the passage Ifor leaving the seat.

While in the foregoing specification I have set ort-h a specific structwre in eonsidenable detail for the purpose of illustrating embodiments of my invention, it wi'll be understood that such detail or details may be varied wide-ly by 4those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I icl-aim:

l1. In a swivei chair struct-ure, Ia seat base equipped wi-tlh `a swivel cup having a raised rim provided with spaced slots, said base having side flanges adapted to releasablly engage said slots `for the adjustment of said bas-e flan-ges with respect to said cup, a plate mounted o-n said base equipped with a depending A.center pin, a seat carried by said plate, and a torsion spring fixed to said oup at Ione end and at its otlher end to said plate.

:2. 'Ilhe structure of lclaim y1 in which said swivel cup is provided ywith spaced adjustment openings adapted to receive the lower end of said torsion spring.

3. =In a c'hair desk, a desk member supported by legs, a seat ibase joined to said desk member and also supported by legs, said seat base being aligned wih said desk and in relatively olose spaced rel-ation thereto, a seat swivelled on ysaid base and equipped `with an upwardly-extending seat black extending above said desk whereby said back may be moved to a position facing said desk and to a position adjacent one end of said desk, and spring means normally holding said seat outwardly with the back 'chere- `of adjacent one end of said desk but yiedding tao permit movement of said seat and back int-o position facing said desk.

4. The struct-ure of claim 3 in 'which .said seat back is concave in shape throughout the width thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,532,354 4/25 Walton 248-417 1,578,784 3/26 Walton 248-417 2,351,194 6/ 44 Davies 248-417 2,579,606 12/51 et al. 3'12-3'16 2,650,648 9/53 Nordmark et al. 297-349 X 2,722,965 111/ 55 Chapman et `al l297-172 2,778,706 1/ 5 7 MacWhirter 312-316 2,921,623 1/ 60 Humphries et all 297-349 l2,979,117 4/61 Barecki et al 297-192 3,051,522 8/62 Myers 297-349 X 3,055,628 9/62 Savage 248-417 3,142,471 7/ 64 Silver 297-349 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A SWIVEL CHAIR STRUCTURE, A SEAT BASE EQUIPPED WITH A SWIVEL CUP HAVING A RAISED RIM PROVIDED WITH SPACED SLOTS, SAID BASE HAVING SIDE FLANGES ADAPTED TO RELEASABLY ENGAGE SAID SLOTS FOR THE ADJUSTMENT OF SAID BASE FLANGES WITH RESPECT TO SAID CUP, A PLATE MOUNTED ON SAID BASE EQUIPPED WITH A DEPENDING CENTER PIN, A SEAT CARRIED BY SAID PLATE, AND A TORSION SPRING FIXED TO SID CUP AT ONE END AND AT ITS OTHER END TO SAID PLATE. 